Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
Unfortunately for us, the wriggly monsters weren’t able to take us all around the world. Their habit was relatively small, especially since they’d been avoiding the enclave for years. They’d been able to get us closer to the ocean, though. We had a few miles’ walk tomorrow on the surface, and then we’d be at the water.
From there, Stella had promised us a boat ride.
We weren’t going to build a fire in the tunnel. The smoke could easily collect against the stone walls and ceiling and end up suffocating us. Instead, we huddled into a group.
“At least it’s warm,” Lanie murmured, resting her head on my shoulder. “Okay, warm is an overstatement. It’s not freezing.”
I moved so I could put my arm around her, letting her rest on my chest. Xander and Mason were side by side with Xander next to me. They were discussing Alpha tactics in low tones. Stella leaned against her mother.
“Tell us what to expect, Stella.” Lanie’s voice sounded thick and syrupy with sleepiness. She yawned, which triggered one from me, and one by one, from everyone else.
Stella’s was the last to finish, and she let out a small yip at the end of it that made me chuckle.
Xander had just yawned in exactly the same way. So had Mason. It must be an inherited family trait.“I’ve booked us passage on a small private yacht,” Stella began.
Lanie’s laugh interrupted her. “Why, out of all the things I’ve seen you do, is this the one I can hardly believe?”
“It was one of the hardest to manage,” Stella admitted. “I had to manipulate actual data and deal with human money. The only thing supernatural about it was the fact I used troll talents to hack into the banking system and make the reservations.”
“I should lecture you about breaking rules, but I’m too tired. And frankly, too proud,” Lanie told her.
Xander leaned around me to look at his daughter. “Who’s going to be sailing this yacht? I’ve never even been on a boat.”
“The rental comes with a captain.” She hesitated. “He’s human.”
We all fell silent at that.
“He won’t survive,” Mason said quietly.
Stella twisted to look at him. “I’ll do my best to make sure he does.”
“He won’t be able to get within a few miles of the island,” Mason continued.
Xander and I shared a look. So did Lanie. It was clear the three of us didn’t know as much about Fallen Crest as Mason did. That was no surprise, since before Stella told us where we were going, I’d never even heard of the place.
“Wait,” Lanie said hesitantly. “Fallen Crest is on an island?”
Stella shook her head. “Fallen Crest is the island.”
Lanie–
It felt like I hadn’t slept a single minute, but Zane was shaking me gently, and everyone else was on their feet as I blinked my eyes open. It took me a few seconds to orient myself.
Right, we were in a tunnel bored by gigantic snow snakes that communicated with my daughter through their minds.
Just another day for the Constantine pack.
Zane helped me to my feet. I stood with a groan. My bones all creaked. I had to pop my neck and back as I put my hands on my hips, twisting side to side and hearing all my vertebrae popping.
Run, Lily whined in my mind.
The fact she was using actual language told me how desperate she was to be free. I soothed her the best I could, but the flash of her in my gaze was soon echoed with similar flashes from my three mates. All of us were in need of some wolf time.
Stella had a strange look on her face. Concerned, I put my hands on her shoulders. I turned her to look into my eyes.
“Stella, my little love? What’s wrong?” It was silly to call her by the old nickname when she was taller than I was, but I wasn’t ready to give it up yet.
At first, she shook her head and tried to cut her gaze from mine. Firmly, I held her until she looked at me again. Her eyes swam with many colors and sometimes looked cloudy or foggy, but in this moment, her gaze was absolutely clear.“I don’t feel my wolf,” she whispered. Her frown deepened. “I can touch every talent, skill or trait that exists, so why can’t I feel my wolf?”
Without a real camp, no fire, no food, no way even to wash up, we didn’t have much to do to get moving. What I did have to do was be there for my daughter when she needed me. I took Stella’s hand and drew her quietly a bit farther down the tunnel, away from the section where her fathers were chatting.
“What if I don’t have one?” Stella fretted.
I hugged her. “You’re the daughter of wolves. Your wolf is inside you. She might simply be shy.”
Stella pulled away with a frown. “Does that happen to people a lot? They get shy wolves who don’t make themselves known?”
“You grew up very fast,” I reminded her. “Your wolf might not have had the time to grow up as fast as you did. You have the ability to pull from any of your multiple traits. Maybe some of them are hiding your wolf for some reason.”
She pursed her lips. “I’m afraid she’ll never reveal herself to me.”
I wasn’t sure exactly what to say. Knowing a Celestial could use any power or talent that existed still didn’t quite explain to me how it worked. What it meant. And I had no idea why it would mean Stella’s wolf wouldn’t have shown itself to her already.
“Can you shift into other forms? A dragon, for example?” I asked her.
“Not here,” she said, looking around the tunnel.
I laughed softly and pulled her against my side. “Of course, you shouldn’t do it here. But could you, outside, if you wanted to?”“Yes. I haven’t done it, but I think I could. But…Mother, it’s not the same. I’m not a dragon shifter, even if I could take the form of a dragon. I don’t have a dragon inside me. Not the way I should have a wolf.”
She sighed and scrubbed at her face with both hands. “I wish there was someone who could help me figure out how all of this is meant to work.”
I checked my three mates to see if they were looking for us, but all of the men were still talking. I turned back to my daughter. “When all of this is over, we’ll find someone. Something. Whatever it takes, okay? I promise you.”
“It will be over soon.” Stella’s voice rasped and scratched. Her gaze went far away and cloudy, then cleared abruptly. She focused on me. “We should get moving. The yacht is docked and waiting for us. We have to make it through the human town to get to it.”
“We’d better get moving, then.” I paused, holding her for a moment longer. My heart ached at the sadness I saw battling with other emotions on my daughter’s expression. She was doing her best to project confidence, but I saw the truth.
Celestial or no, my Stella was hurting.
“I mean it, little star. I’m here to help you carry whatever burdens weigh you down. We will get through this together.”
Both of us cried a little bit, clinging to each other. I pressed my cheek to hers. Then I wiped away her tears and gave her a firm look.
“One step forward. Then the next,” I reminded her.
She nodded. “I know. But…it’s hard, Mother. Being the only one. I might not be alone, but I am lonely.”“Are you two ready?” Xander called from behind us, making us both turn.
She looked past me toward her father. “Yes. Let’s go.”
And then, although I wanted to hug her again, Stella marched away from me.
Xander–
We moved through the human town, all of us tense and alert, but nobody there gave us any trouble.
The port town attracted a lot of tourists, so even a small pack of supernaturals didn’t seem out of place. None of us even turned a head as we stopped in a cafe to pick up some breakfast.
“I’m ready to eat the table. Isn’t there some kind of magic Stella can cast to stop us from being hungry?” I growled under my breath to Lanie as she and I waited to pick up our order.
“She could feed us, but it would only be an illusion. Better to wait for real food, love.”
Lanie laughed, but her voice sounded a little strained. Her eyes kept finding our daughter, who was waiting to the side with her other fathers. I could see the worry etching lines in Lanie’s face, and I wanted to ask her what she and Stella had talked about earlier. It would have to wait until we were alone.
The server showed up with our paper bags of food. Stella stepped up and mimed swiping a credit card through the machine at the cash register. Even though I’d seen her doing amazing things, I was still not sure this was going to work…until it did.
“Wow,” the server said, blinking. Her grin spread across her entire face. “Thanks for the tip.”
We bustled out of there with our food, all of us eagerly tearing open the foil around our breakfast burritos and gobbling while we walked toward the docks where we’d board the yacht.
“Human towns smell…different,” Stella said, wrinkling her nose. She’d only nibbled at her burrito.
I scented the air, letting my wolf rise a bit. “I smell grease and breakfast meat. And coffee. And yeah. Humans. The smell kind of stale, like they could use a good, hard, run. How are we doing ontime?”
“We’ll be there on time,” she said, barely pausing even though her vision went that weird cloudy gray that looked like it should make it hard for her to see where she was going.
I took the last bite of my burrito and crumpled the foil to toss into a nearby garbage can. I could see the water ahead of us.
Stella handed me her burrito. “I don’t want this. Will you eat it?”
“You need to eat something,” I scolded her, but didn’t push it. I took the burrito and bit into it.
Ahead of us, Lanie walked between Zane and Mason. Stella had assured us the human town offered us no dangers, but we weren’t taking any chances. We wanted to get through here as fast as we could without attracting attention.
“Anything from the High Council?” I kept my voice pitched low.
Stella nodded. “They figured out the tunnel block was an illusion. They’ve taken some time to mount their forces. They’re calling in everyone who wasn’t with them already. It will take them some time to catch up to us.”
“But they will,” I said.
“We’ll be at Fallen Crest with time to prepare for them. But, Daddy…we will have to fight.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?